Addressing the opening ceremony of the 27th Asean Summit, Najib said in the economic front the bloc has made a direct financial difference to hundreds of millions, Xinhua reported.

The Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA) has reduced tariffs to zero or near zero, said the prime minster whose country hosts the summit this year.

“This has reduced the prices of countless goods, and means our citizens have more money to spend on their families. Without AFTA, our firms would find it harder to access each other’s markets.”

Without Asean the unemployment in the region will be higher, said Najib. “The overall rate among our 10 nations is a comparatively three percent low, which economists attribute not just to countries, but to Asean attracting substantial flow of foreign direct investment.”

With Asean, the people in the region have enjoyed visa-free travel through nine out of the 10 member states and the professionals found it more easier to work in each other’s countries, Najib noted.

With further liberation and integration in the region, it is estimated that the measures being implemented under the Asean economic community will raise the overall GDP by seven percent by 2025 that will be a gain for the economies, Najib said.

In his opening speech, Najib also mentioned the “Asean Way”, stressing the importance of resolving disputes through peaceful means.

Founded in 1967, Asean groups Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. It aims to accelerate economic growth, social progress and socio-cultural evolution among its members.

The opinions, views, and thoughts expressed by the readers and those providing comments are theirs alone and do not reflect the opinions of www.mangalorean.com or any employee thereof. www.mangalorean.com is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the readers. Responsibility for the content of comments belongs to the commenter alone.

We request the readers to refrain from posting defamatory, inflammatory comments and not indulge in personal attacks. However, it is obligatory on the part of www.mangalorean.com to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments to the concerned authorities upon their request.

Hence we request all our readers to help us to delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by informing us at info@mangalorean.com. Lets work together to keep the comments clean and worthful, thereby make a difference in the community.